Israeli League Playoff Semifinals: May 27, 2008
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Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv held off Bnei Hasharon in a true thriller on Tuesday night to advance to the Israeli League championship game, where it will face Hapoel Holon on Thursday looking for its 16th straight championship. Maccabi bested Bnei Hasharon 57-55 in the second game of the Israeli final four only after Erez Katz missed a potential game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds. Veteran Nikola Vujcic helped lead Maccabi back in the last minutes with the go ahead basket and finished as the team’s leading scorer with 13 points. Jason Williams paced Bnei Hasharon with 25 points – 17 of which came in the second period as his teamed stormed back from an early deficit. In the early game, the regular season champ from Holon struggled early, but stormed back to down Ironi Nahariya 100-89 thanks to a superior effort on the boards. Holon outrebounded Nahariya 49-25 – including 25 offensive boards leading to 33 second-chance points – to win and advance to the finals for the first time since 1955.
Maccabi Elite downed Bnei Hasharon 57-55 after a thrilling hard-nosed battle. Bnei Hasharon''s Erez Katz missed a three-pointer in the closing seconds that could have made history, after Maccabi used Nikola Vujcic and Will Bynum to take the lead in the last minutes. Bnei Hasharon scored only 5 points in the entire last quarter of a game that saw very limited offenses. Vujcic finished the game as the top scorer for Maccabi with 13 points, including the key points down the stretch, Yotam Halperin added 12. Jason Williams led Bnei Hasharon with 25 points – 17 of them in the second quarter when he scored all of his team's points. Rod Grizzard added 12 – all in the third quarter. Maccabi showed great team play and aggressive defense in the first quarter. Morris blocked a couple of shots as Maccabi dominated inside. Vujcic and Halperin swept Maccabi to an early 14-6 lead. Despite an early injury to Omri Casspi, another late in the quarter to Halperin and 3 quick fouls on David Bluthenthal, Maccabi kept the momentum going taking a 22-9 by the end of the first quarter. Esteban Batista dominated the paint and Derrick Sharp nailed a crazy three pointer to bring Maccabi to a 27-12 difference in the 14th minute, as Bnei Hasharon was still looking for a scorer. Them in a sensational single-quarter performance, Williams collected all of Bnei Hasharon's points in the second quarter – including 5 three pointers – to lead his team to within 29-26 by halftime. Bnei Hasharon opened the second half with another run, climbing to a 30-34 lead in what became a 1-19 run. Alex Garcia put a lot of energy in Maccabi's game and together with Halperin, who came back to the game, put the champs back on top. However Grizzard added 8 points to change the picture again. Maccabi couldn't find answers on offense, as Bnei Hasharon dominated the offensive boards, connecting two put-back dunks in a row to climb to a 39-48 lead deep in the third quarter. Halperin with a big three kept Maccabi's side optimistic entering the deciding 10 minutes down 44-50. Bynum came off the bench to try and change things in favor of Maccabi, and when Bnei Hasharon lost its momentum, Maccabi showed life signs. Both teams combined for only 6 points in the first five minutes of the last quarter, displaying big nerves and emotions, but Maccabi was the first to wake up. Garcia and Bynum brought Maccabi within 1, but both teams struggled to score possession after possession. Maccabi went for experience as Vujcic nailed the big bucket and hit the bonus from the line to give Maccabi a 55-53 lead inside the last 120 seconds of the semis. The legendary center added another point from the line to march Maccabi into the last minute with a 3-point difference. Williams went to the line two possessions in a row, but got only two points out of that and with 20.3 seconds on the clock, Bnei Hasharon fouled Bynum, who went to shoot 2. He also made just 1 and Bnei Hasharon got the last ball down by 2. Katz had the last chance to make the upset, but missed a tough three pointer, and allowed Maccabi to stay champs for at least two more days.
Hapoel Holon bested Ironi Nahariya in the early game 100-89. Despite a poor start, Holon came back from down 12 in the first half to take a 7-point halftime lead, which increased to 20 throughout the second half. P.J. Tucker led Holon with 23 points and 13 rebounds, Tony Washam scored 19 with 7 rebounds and Elton Brown added 17 with 8 boards to pace the winners. John Gilchrist had a big night for Nahariya with 26 points and 6 assists. The key to the game for Holon was rebounding. The regular season champs grabbed a total of 49 boards – 25 of them on offense – compared to Nahariya's total of 25 rebounds. Gilchrist was on fire for Nahariya in the opening minutes, as it took a shocking 2-10 lead. Holon looked confused, but stayed in the game due to offensive boards. However Gilchrist was in a zone, connecting for 11 points, leading his team to an 8-20 advantage. Tre Simmons hit the first long-range shot for Holon to make it 19-26 at the end of the first quarter. Holon kept the momentum going, as Brown dominated the paint. Nahariya stayed on top thanks to 2 additional three pointers, but once that stopped Holon took its first lead with a Brown layup 38-36 deep into the second quarter. Barak Peleg picked up his third personal foul before a 6-0 spurt by Holon in the closing minute of the half set the margin at 50-43. Holon picked up the pace early in the second as Moran Rot hit a long-range jumper to make it a double-digit lead. Holon's athleticism allowed it total dominance of the offensive boards to fix most of the missed shots, and before the end of the third quarter Holon's lead grew to 78-57. Nahariya added a bucket before the third buzzer, but knew it needed a miracle to complete a win. Simmons hit a big three from the corner to make it 90-69 before Nahariya made its last attempt at the game. But it would prove to be too little, too late as Holon earned a spot in the title game. Simmons added 14 and Rot finished with 12 for Holon. Peleg scored 20, Ido Kozikaro 14 and Otis Hill 12 for Nahariya.
| Final Four Semifinals, single game |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | | 1 | Hapoel Holon (1) | 100 | | 0 | Ironi Nahariya (4) | 89 | | 1 | Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv (2) | 57 | | 0 | Bnei Hasharon (3) | 55 |
| Final Four semifinals games | | Game 1 | Hapoel Holon vs. Ironi Nahariya | 100-89 | May 27 | | Game 1 | Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv vs. Bnei Hasharon | 57-55 | May 27 |
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Yarone Arbel, Tel Aviv
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